The document discusses reader response theory, which considers how readers interpret texts based on their own experiences and perspectives. It originated in the late 1960s through the work of critics like Stanley Fish, Wolfgang Iser, and Norman Holland. Reader response theorists believe the reader plays an active role in deriving meaning from a work and that texts do not have one fixed meaning. Readers recognize reader response at work when listening to songs by relating the lyrics and feelings evoked to their own lives.